'Ramen Culture' to Take Center Stage at Chinatown Restaurant

“Ramen culture hails in New York City and Asia but not in Chicago," said Kee Chan, owner of Strings Ramen Shop, a forthcoming restaurant in Chinatown. "I think most of the time here you see businesses offering a lot of things on the menu, like a Thai restaurant adds a sushi menu or Chinese food is added to a sushi restaurant.

“We’ve decided to make a model right here where we only do ramen," he said.

Ramen originated in China but has been adapted over the years as a Japanese dish, with many variations of broths and noodles.

With some notable exceptions — Takashi Yagihashi's mini-noodle empire, plus smaller places like Chinatown's Hing Kee and Logan Square's Wasabi — many of the ramen dishes you’ll find in the city’s Japanese or Pan-Asian restaurants began with frozen, processed noodles, Chan said.

That won’t be the case at Strings, where a high-end machine will kick out endless strands of uniquely flavored noodles.

Chan, a veteran of Chinatown's Lure Izakaya Pub and Mulan, said Strings will serve anywhere from four to eight ramen dishes, each with house-made noodles nestled within flavorful broths made of seaweed, chicken and miso. Chan was especially excited about a ramen dish made with freshly-shaved dried bonito fish flakes.

“We’ll be using special broths and only using best ingredients,” Chan said.